Dixon, Cincinnati uses late push to dump Georgetown

Dixon scored four of his 10 points in the closing four-plus
minutes as Cincinnati used a late run Wednesday to continue the
struggles for No. 23 Georgetown and post a 65-57 victory.

Deonta Vaughn scored 20 points and Mike Williams 12 for the
Bearcats (14-7, 4-4 Big East), who beat the Hoyas for the first
time in five games as a member of the Big East Conference.

Cincinnati also claimed its first win in four games against a
ranked opponent this season. It was its first victory over a
top-25 team since a 62-59 triumph over then-No. 19 Pittsburgh on
January 19, 2008.

"Well obviously, a great win for our team," Bearcats coach Mick
Cronin said. "A tremendous defensive effort for our guys. We
gave up zero back doors for the game."

"It means a lot to us," Vaughn said. "We are getting our feet
on the ground and letting everyone know we are coming to play.
We need to keep playing like this to win. It tells everybody
that we play hard."

Georgetown took a 55-54 lead behind a 3-pointer by freshman
Jason Clark with 4:41 remaining, but Dixon answered with his own
basket from the arc 31 seconds later to give Cincinnati the lead
for good.

Dixon also split two free throws with 2:13 to play as the
Bearcats ended the game with an 11-2 run to win for the fourth
time in their last five games.

"I knew I had to do something because I had a few turnovers, and
I knew I had to make it up on the offensive end," said Dixon,
who shot 3-of-7 on 3-pointers in scoring in double figures for
the sixth time this season.

"After the game, we all said we were disappointed with the
loss," Wright said. "We have to keep playing hard. We have a
lot of games left in the Big East, and we need to do whatever we
need to do to win. We had a few bad shots, but we have to stay
strong."

Georgetown, which was coming off a 65-60 loss to previously
winless Seton Hall on Saturday, is in the midst of its worst
losing streak since 2004-05 - coach John Thompson III's first
season.

"We are at the point now where our backs are against the wall,"
Thompson said. "We need to re-evaluate everything. We have to
do everything significantly better than we are right now."

To add to the Hoyas' misery, top scorer DaJuan Summers twisted
his left ankle in the opening 20 minutes and did not return
after halftime. He finished with seven points.

"The timing is unfortunate," Thompson said. "DaJuan gets hurt,
and that is unfortunate. We need to roll our sleeves up and
fight. It is simple as that."

"As the second half went on, it was fairly evident that he
wasn't coming in," Cronin said. "We had heard at halftime that
he had turned his ankle. Those are things that sometimes when
it rains, it pours. We all know that Georgetown has won the
league the last few years because of great players and
coaching."

With Summers sidelined, Cincinnati was able to absorb the loss
of a 27-26 lead at the break as Georgetown came out and scored
13 of the first 21 points of the second half.

The Hoyas' 39-35 edge with 15:02 remaining would be their
largest of the second half. The Bearcats responded with a 10-4
run for a 45-43 lead 3 1/2 minutes later, with Vaughn scoring
the final three points of the spurt.

The junior guard also converted two free throws to give
Cincinnati a 54-49 lead with 6:02 to play. Georgetown came back
with a three-point play by Freeman and the basket from the arc
by Clark to go ahead for the final time before missing five of
its last six shots.

The Hoyas shot 40 percent (22-of-55) from the field and
attempted only 10 free throws.